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Mansfield
Snatch Late Point
Lincoln City 1 Mansfield 1
8th April 2006
Mansfield Town dented Lincoln City's play-off hopes this
afternoon via a last gasp equaliser.
As expected, Imps' boss Keith Alexander elected to alter
his Lincoln City side that lost at Darlington last
Saturday. There was just one change though, as
experienced midfielder Steve Robinson was recalled to the
starting line-up in place of Luke Foster. There was also
a surprise recall to the substitutes' bench for striker
Danny Bacon, who has not played since breaking his leg in
September.
A strong wind made for difficult playing conditions, as
Mansfield quickly found out when the wind helped Lincoln
win a corner after just forty seconds of play. Scott
Kerr's delivery cause a scramble before Marvin Robinson's
shot was blocked to safety.
Both sides battled for early possession, with an incident
of note when Jamie Forrester passed to Jeff Hughes in the
13th minute. Despite being 35-yards from goal, Hughes
blasted a shot just wide. Mansfield responded five
minutes later when Giles Coke saw his 20-yard shot safely
gathered by Imps' goalkeeper Alan Marriott.
Throw-ins and free-kicks were aplenty, including a 30th
minute free-kick from Kerr that led to a Lincoln corner.
Alas, the corner was easily cleared by Mansfield's
defence.
The game's first caution was handed out in the 36th
minute, when Jake Buxton was booked for a foul on Kerr.
Mansfield, upon entering the final five minutes of the
first half, began to start thinking about creating
chances for themselves. A Gus Ulhenbeek long-range shot
was saved by Marriott in the 40th minute. Two minutes
later, a Mansfield corner led to Adam Rundle shooting
wide.
Lincoln could and should have snatched a half-time lead
as they had the best opportunity of the half, which came
deep into stoppage time. Ulhenbeek handled the ball to
concede a dangerous free-kick that Kerr whipped into the
penalty area. From close range, Jamie McCombe headed just
wide, although he was unsighted when he connected with
the ball.
The second half had to improve and it certain did after
just two minutes of play. The first piece of good linkup
play that the game had seen was created by Mansfield,
when Coke raced down the wing. He crossed to Ritchie
Barker, who turned before sending a shot at goal.
However, Marriott was equal to Barker's skill and managed
to make a superb save to deny Mansfield the lead.
Two minutes later, it should definitely have been 1-0 to
Mansfield when Rundle created the space to fire a cross
into the penalty area. Marriott jumped for the ball but
could only palm it to Danny Reet, who promptly missed a
near-open goal.
Mansfield were made to pay for that miss, when Lincoln
took the lead in the 52nd minute. Colin Cryan's cross
missed Marvin Robinson but luckily, Franny Green was
following up to control the pass. He kept his composure
to shoot, although Mansfield goalkeeper Kevin Pressman
will be disappointed that he allowed Green's shot to creep under his body
and into the net for 1-0 to Lincoln.
Laurence Wilson's foul on Forrester earnt him a yellow
card in the 60th minute, although it did allow Mansfield
to take off Reet for Simon Brown in the game's first
substitution.
Brown was straight into the action, as he was require to
attack a 62nd minute corner. Thankfully, Lincoln's
defence were able to cope and cleared the ball away
without any difficulty.
Lincoln made their first change in the 69th minute, when
Marvin Robinson was replaced by Gary Birch. Three minutes
later, Rundle made way for Stephen Dawson in Mansfield's
second substitution.
In-between those changes, Coke was booked for dissent.
Steve Robinson was also cautioned when he disputed a 73rd
minute foul by McCombe on Brown. Possibly because of this
booking, Steve Robinson was replaced two minutes later by
Jude Stirling in a tactical change.
The most telling subsitution came in the 78th minute when
Ulhenbeek was replaced by Allan Russell. Goal scoring
chances were extremely rare, although Coke did head wide
in the 83rd minute. Two minutes later, Dawson's corner
was headed wide by Jon Olav Hjelde from 6-yards out.
Right at the end of normal time, Lee Beevers was
penalised for a foul on Brown. Russell stepped up to take the
dangerous free-kick and the ball ended up in the bottom
of the net for 1-1.
Despite the lateness of the this goal, there was still
time for Lincoln to almost score the winner. Deep into
stoppage time, a wonderful lob from Forrester was
expertly tipped over the crossbar by Pressman to ensure
that points were shared.
Lincoln
City: A
Marriott, C Cryan, S Robinson (76 J Stirling), J McCombe,
J Hughes, S Kerr, L Beevers, N Brown, F Green, J
Forrester, M Robinson (70 G Birch)
Unused subs: M Gritton, L Mettam, D Bacon
Mansfield: K Pressman, J D'Laryea, A
Baptiste, G Uhlenbeek (78 A Russell), J Buxton, L Wilson,
A Rundle (73 S Dawson), G Coke, D Reet (61 S Brown), R
Barker, J Hjelde
Unused subs: R Day, J White
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